For all cooks who love the strong aroma of this herb, one little plant is simply not enough. All shoots are gone in no time. Having the shrub basil in many pots on the windowsill is not that difficult and not that expensive. How to multiply shrub basil at home.
Shrub basil is easy to propagate from seeds
There are two possibilities
The shrub basil, bot. Ocimum kiliman. x basilicum, can be propagated in two ways in this country:
- by sowing the ripe seeds
- by rooting cuttings
Germinable seeds of basil
Sowing is simple, but assumes you have viable seeds. Not every cultivated plant can give us these. While the seeds of the wild varieties are ideal for sowing, hybrid varieties let us down in this regard.
You can also buy seeds from stores so you can be sure they will germinate. The “African Blue” and “Magic Blue” varieties are particularly popular. These shrub basil varieties are edible, but also extremely decorative with their red-edged leaves.
tips
If you don't need the flowers of your shrub basil for seed production, you can use them for cooking. The flowers are edible and also decorative. However, if you don't like the bitter taste, you should cut off the flowers so that more leaves sprout.
Key dates for sowing
- Sow indoors from February to March
- in pots with potting soil
- Press the seeds lightly into the soil, do not cover them with soil
- Keep pots warm to at least 20 °C
- a bright, warm windowsill is ideal
- Keep soil slightly moist throughout
The seedlings appear after just a few days. If they are big enough, they can be placed in their own pots. They can only go outside or into the garden soil when the ice saints are over. Because shrub basil is not hardy and must overwinter in the house.
root cuttings
With good care and regular pruning, perennial basil grows beautifully bushy. Fresh shoots can be harvested continuously for use in the kitchen. Use a few of them to grow new plants.
- cut from late summer to autumn
- choose a healthy, strong shoot about 10 cm long
- it should be unwoody and without flowers
- Remove the lower leaves, leaving only 6-8 at the top
- Place the cuttings in a glass jar with water
- choose a warm and bright location
- plant as soon as the roots are approx. 3 cm long
- Use herbal soil or lean cactus soil
- Planting depth is approx. 3 cm
tips
Instead of waiting for rooting in a glass of water, you can put the cuttings in moist soil right away. A bag put over it promotes rooting, but must be aired in between. As soon as new leaves appear, it can be removed entirely.